


the good ol' days

by hawksonfire



Series: oh, the good ol' days [1]
Category: Marvel
Genre: M/M, Marvel Bingo 2019, Mentions of Clint's shitty childhood, NaNoWriMo, Pre-Relationship, mentions of Bucky Barnes - Freeform, trapped together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 12:31:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21271094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawksonfire/pseuds/hawksonfire
Summary: “Looks like,” Steve says, shifting. “You got any cards on you?”“Yeah, sure, let me just pull out the pack I keep in my quiver for occasions exactly like this one,” Clint deadpans. Then he does exactly that and starts dealing.“You actually keep a deck of cards in your quiver?” Steve asks incredulously.





	the good ol' days

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Marvel Bingo Square G3: Trapped Together. 
> 
> OKAY SO I'm taking on a little project this November. Technically, it's NaNoWriMo, but considering I'm not writing a novel - whatever. I'm calling it NaNoWriMo. Anyway, this is the first in a series of squares on my Marvel Bingo card. They're all set in the same universe and it's gonna end up being Steve/Clint/Bucky. Here's hoping I manage to do this.

**Clint**

Clint comes to groggily, groaning as the pounding in his head makes itself known. “Ow,” he mutters, blinking open his eyes and immediately slamming them shut again. 

“Easy, Clint, you took a pretty bad hit to the head,” A voice murmurs, just a tad too loud. 

Clint lifts his arm and pats clumsily up the chest of whoever’s lap he’s in, all the way up to their mouth. “Shush now, too loud.”

“Sorry,” Steve - because it is Steve - whispers. Clint pushes himself upright, gritting his teeth against the wave of nausea that it gets him. “I think you have a concussion,” Steve continues, still whispering. “That chunk of rock knocked you out.”

“Yes, thank you, Steve, I got that,” Clint bites, immediately feeling bad when he sees Steve’s face drop. “Sorry,” he apologizes, “Concussions make me cranky. What happened, anyway?”

“We were checking out this cave system because the local police had been getting reports of people disappearing into it at night, but they didn’t have the tools to check it out properly -”

“Translation,” Clint interrupts, “They were too goddamn scared to do their fuckin’ jobs and called us in instead.”

“Who’s telling the story here?” Steve asks, raising an eyebrow. Clint gestures for him to go on sarcastically. “Thank you. So we got here, checked it out and found all the people that had gone missing. We didn’t get a chance to question them before we triggered a cave-in. As far as I’m aware, all the others got out okay, but you were helping a kid out and I was waiting for you to leave when I saw a massive chunk of rock hurtling straight for your head. I threw my shield to hit the rock, you threw the kid at Nat to get them out safely, and in the process, you bashed your head against the side of the cave.”

Clint winces. “Not my smartest move. Kid get out okay?”

Steve scoffs. “Yeah, no kidding. Kid’s fine, I saw Nat get them out before I came back for your unconscious body. We got closed in before I could get us out.”

“Any idea when we’re getting out of here?” Clint asks. Steve shakes his head. “Well then, Cap,” Clint sighs, settling back against the uncomfortable wall of the cave, “Looks like we’re trapped together for a while.”

“Looks like,” Steve says, shifting. “You got any cards on you?”

“Yeah, sure, let me just pull out the pack I keep in my quiver for occasions exactly like this one,” Clint deadpans. Then he does exactly that and starts dealing. 

“You actually keep a deck of cards in your quiver?” Steve asks incredulously.

“What, you think this is the first time I’ve been trapped somewhere with nothing to do?” Clint asks, shoving some cards at Steve. “Look Steve, when I get bored, things get explodey. I feel like that might not be the best-case scenario here.” As if to emphasize his point, the stone around them creaks, shifting and groaning. 

They both freeze, not even daring to breathe until the stone settles. “Probably right,” Steve admits. 

“Try and keep the cheating to a minimum, okay?” Clint snorts at Steve’s affronted look. “Don’t give me that ‘Captain America doesn’t cheat at cards’ bullshit because I know you do. I’ve been cheating at cards for most of my life, and I had to learn a whole new way to cheat around you.”

“It’s not like I _ mean _ to cheat!” Steve protests. “This eidetic memory thing keeps me on my toes.”

Clint hums. “Even if I didn’t know you’ve only had it for three years, I highly doubt you were an angel before you had the serum. Scrappy thing like you woulda taken pleasure in fleecing assholes at cards. Go fish.”

“We’re playing go fish? I thought we were playing gin!” Steve’s expression cracks Clint up, and he has to set down his cards for how hard he’s laughing. 

“I guess talking would help,” Clint grins, wiping tears from his eyes. 

“Couldn’t hurt,” Steve agrees. “You mind if we just do that for a while? Talking, I mean? It’s been a while since I spoke to someone who got that it’s only been a couple years for me, y’know?”

Clint shrugs. “We all _ get _ it, Steve, we just don’t think you wanna talk about it, so we don’t bring it up.”

“Might be nice to talk about it sometimes,” Steve says wistfully. 

“Well, you ever feel like talking about it, my doors always open as long as you bring coffee. And none of that swill that Tony keeps in his kitchen, you hear me? I want the good stuff, Rogers, the stuff you make at four in the morning to help you get to sleep.”

Steve laughs at him. “That’s the way Bucky used to make it. Coffee so strong, it coulda crawled out of the cup and strangled you.”

“_That’s _ the way coffee should be made,” Clint nods, yawning, “The only way, in my opinion.”

“I’m with you there,” Steve says, “Don’t get me wrong, the coffee today isn’t terrible. Good for calorie intake, anyway. But coffee the way Bucky used to make it...”

“It’s comfort food,” Clint says quietly. “Yeah. I don’t have many memories from when I was a kid, but my ma’s cornbread... I would kill a man for that, and I wouldn’t even feel bad about it.”

“Do you know the recipe?” Steve asks earnestly. “Maybe you could make some, or -”

Clint’s already shaking his head. “She never wrote it down so it went with her to her grave, unfortunately.” He smiles bitterly. “Guess I can thank my Pa for that too.”

“I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories,” Steve starts.

“My whole childhood is a bad memory, Steve, it’s not your fault,” Clint says. “How long we been down here, do you think?”

“Long enough,” Steve says. 

Right when he says that, their comms crackle and Tony’s voice appears in their ear. “Yo, Capsicle, Legolas, you alive down there?”

“Only barely,” Steve says.

“Yeah, get us out of here, Steve’s been regaling me with tales of the good ol’ days for hours, Tony,” Clint chimes in, winking at Steve. “Even told me a couple of ones about your dad! Man, the shit he got up to.”

“Uh, _ share _?” Tony says, “I need to know what sort of stuff dear old Dad did back in the day!”

“Sorry, Tony,” Clint says mournfully, “Steve’s sworn me to secrecy. I can’t break that oath, it’s practically treason!”

“He’s right, Tony,” Steve says seriously, “It practically _ is _ treason.” With that, neither he nor Clint can hold it in anymore and they both start laughing. 

“You were fucking with me,” Tony says in shock, “They were fucking with me! Nat, they’re teasing me!”

“Boys, stop teasing Tony,” Nat says over comms. Hearing her voice relaxes something in Clint. He knew she was alive, but he didn’t really _ believe _ it until he heard for himself. “It’s not fun if I can’t see his face."

Tony squawks in outrage and they all start laughing. “Yeah, yeah, yuck it up,” Tony grumbles. “You two might wanna find some cover if there is any, I’m about to blow a hole in the roof of your cozy little cave.”

“You mind, Cap?” Clint asks, huddling close to Steve. 

“Not in the slightest, Hawkeye,” Steve says, lifting the shield over their heads. “We’re clear, Tony.” They hear his repulsors firing up, then a loud _ boom _ shakes the cavern, making Clint stumble. Steve catches him, one arm around his waist and pulls him upright, bringing them chest to chest. 

Clint clears his throat. “Thanks, Steve.”

“No problem,” Steve says, letting go of Clint’s waist when he pulls away. 

“C’mon, you two, let’s get out of here!” Tony shouts through the hole he made, dropping a rope. “I want pizza!”

“Now you’re speakin’ my language!” Clint crows, attaching the rope to his belt. As it lifts him up, bringing him free and clear of the cave, he almost feels... sorry. Yeah, he’s glad to be out of there, but it was... nice, talking to Steve. He wouldn’t mind doing it again.


End file.
